When people hear our love story it is just a bit too dreamy and well, Italian. My Love caught my attention with a bowl of spaghetti. Our date was set, we would meet at his apartment, he would cook for me, we would go to the opera.
I arrived at his apartment and he greeted me with a kiss on the cheek and before starting, He TIED MY APRON on! Then we started cooking–or should I say, he started cooking and I watched. I mainly watched his hands. They moved quickly, methodically and gracefully. Chopping parsley, smashing the garlic and then quickly mincing it faster than I knew was possible. He gave me one assignment–dice the tomatoes. As I diced the tomatoes, he managed to boil the water, set the table, finish prepping everything else and I had only finished two tomatoes. He came over and asked if I would like any help. I handed him the knife. He took it and I watched this man dice the tomatoes like someone dicing butter. It was fast, smooth, and I wished I had not offered to dice the tomatoes. I also wished he had not stopped. It was so attractive! I guess you can say he had me at first dice, not first bite. This man had skills and I couldn’t wait to get to know him better!
Within 20 minutes he managed to make us a gourmet Italian meal. Spaghetti aglio e olio con i gamberi , and salad. There was no need for dessert, it was that amazing! I had no idea Italian food could be so delicious, refreshing, and full of flavor and with so few ingredients.
That night we drove “come i pirati” (like pirates–which is to say blazing) to the opera, we held hands, and when I got home I downloaded an app to learn Italian. I never looked back.
This first dish on this first date was the beginning of my culinary journey into the land of Italian cuisine. I am now a self-proclaimed olive oil snob and gelato obsessed American. My taste buds and cellular structure have continued to evolve and change to the point that I look more Italian than my husband and I cook and relish in wholesome, love-filled, homey southern Italian dishes.
I have to give credit where credit is due. My love is who I learned to cook Italian cuisine from. He is the brains, the heart, the hands and the home of my knowledge. His mother is his culinary tutor and her mother was hers and so the story continues back and back. Cuisine, food, family and friends are the heart of Italy. Everyday when I cook I am cooking a piece of our heritage and family history. When I write the recipes I am preserving generations of stories passed down through little speech; and mainly gestures and taste. I teach classes to give others the ability to see, savor, and feel what I experienced that first time I put into my mouth spaghetti made the correct way. The way my husband’s great-great-great grandmother would have made it. I honor all of his ancestors when I make a dish correctly. I honor them when I feed my children their dishes, their recipes, their beautiful culinary creations that are not just full of flavor, but full of nutrients that bring life and sustenance and joy.
Everyday that we teach our children how to cook we honor nonna (grandma) and we save a piece of our heritage. We help our children and family and friends experience our ancestor’s life. As simple as a piece of bread in milk and sugar, or as elaborate as lasagne made the Napolitan way….We honor our family’s heritage.
Buona Forchetta UT’s main purpose is to bring family and friends together—with amazing food and to help preserve our Italian heritage and culture through the recipes that were passed down through generations. This way, when our Grandchildren ask what their bis-nonna (great grandma) ate when she was young; my son will make them a bowl of spaghetti and all will know it came from Nonna’s life in Italy such was and is the tradition.
We are the last link for my mother-in-law’s family and my love and I have decided to make it our quest to preserve the heritage and untold stories that were passed down through the hands and kitchens of the nonnas of our family.
Isn’t it amazing that just by eating a bowl of spaghetti on a first date my life could turn into saving the culinary heritage of the Vinci and Petrucci family! I am and will forever be grateful for the beautiful Italian culture and for stories told over and through a bowl of spaghetti!
Kristin Petrucci is the founder of @buonaforchettaut and @KristinPSpeaks. She is the mother of 5 children and resides in Utah. Her husband David is from Terni, Italy. All of his immediate family resides in Italy. They both love to cook and eat Italian food and share with others their passion for life, friendship and food.
